Marie Collins was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Ireland. In 2014, she joined the Vatican's commission for the protection of minors, hoping to help make changes. Now, she has resigned in frustration.

Updated

09/27/2015 - 10:00am

He fled Boston leaving a trail of 550 people abused by parish priests and court judgments that topped $85 million. Now that Pope Francis has promised accountability to survivors of church sex abuse, where is Cardinal Law? Turns out, he's in a new apartment in the Vatican — when he's not on vacation.

The US and Cuba supposedly negotiated in secret for more than a year to bring about a thaw between the two countries. They weren't the only ones, though: Pope Francis also helped the two longtime enemies conduct their back-channel diplomacy.

Catholic bishops meeting at the Vatican have suggested the church "welcome home" gays and lesbians. While the church leaders are not supporting same-sex marriages, the synod is striking a historically open note on gays, divorce and other culture-war issues.

The Vatican is dense with art and history — every arch, piece of art and ceiling has a story to tell. But so do the floors, which are easy to miss. Whether paved with marble from the Coliseum or sporting mosaics from ancient villas, the floors of the Vatican have much to tell.

Pope Francis has already called attention to poverty and inequality, and he's now calling Catholics to pay more notice to the environment. In doing so, he could change not only policy but the way that people view sin and responsibility.

President Barack Obama met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday. Both sides described the meeting as cordial, and Obama professed himself a "great admirer" of the new pontiff. Despite the bonhomie, there are issues that divide the two men.

At some level, all countries push new citizens to integrate and that's where civics and language citizenship tests come in. But when you take a longer look at how citizenship exams are developed worldwide, you realize they can have less to do with methodology than promoting a strict cultural identity.

The 115 cardinals of the Catholic Church on Wednesday, after a full day of conclave, chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as its next spiritual leader, the 266th leader of the Catholic Church. Bergoglio, who took the name Pope Francis, is an Argentinian and was not among the favorites to ascend to the chair of St. Peter.

Marie Collins was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Ireland. In 2014, she joined the Vatican's commission for the protection of minors, hoping to help make changes. Now, she has resigned in frustration.

Updated

09/27/2015 - 10:00am

He fled Boston leaving a trail of 550 people abused by parish priests and court judgments that topped $85 million. Now that Pope Francis has promised accountability to survivors of church sex abuse, where is Cardinal Law? Turns out, he's in a new apartment in the Vatican — when he's not on vacation.

Pope Francis has already called attention to poverty and inequality, and he's now calling Catholics to pay more notice to the environment. In doing so, he could change not only policy but the way that people view sin and responsibility.

The Vatican is dense with art and history — every arch, piece of art and ceiling has a story to tell. But so do the floors, which are easy to miss. Whether paved with marble from the Coliseum or sporting mosaics from ancient villas, the floors of the Vatican have much to tell.

Catholic bishops meeting at the Vatican have suggested the church "welcome home" gays and lesbians. While the church leaders are not supporting same-sex marriages, the synod is striking a historically open note on gays, divorce and other culture-war issues.

The US and Cuba supposedly negotiated in secret for more than a year to bring about a thaw between the two countries. They weren't the only ones, though: Pope Francis also helped the two longtime enemies conduct their back-channel diplomacy.

The answer to today's Geo Quiz is the independent state of Monaco. The Mediterranean city state's ruler Prince Albert II announced he's scrapping a multi-billion dollar plan to expand into the sea because of the global economic downturn. Anchor Marco Werman gets details from the Globe and Mail's European business reporter Eric Reguly.